Brian Cantor


Brian Cantor CBE FREng is an Emeritus Professor of Materials at the University of Oxford. Prior to this he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bradford from 2013 to 2019. Prior to this appointment he was Vice-Chancellor at the University of York from 2002 to 2013, and prior to this he was Head of the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Division at the University of Oxford.
He is acknowledged as a world authority on materials manufacturing and is a former Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Biography

Cantor studied at Manchester Grammar School and Christ's College, Cambridge
He has worked at universities including Sussex, Oxford and York, and for companies including Alcan, Elsevier, General Electric and Rolls-Royce. He has advised organisations such as EPSRC, NASA, the EU and the Dutch, Spanish and German governments. He was a member of the Sainsbury review of UK science and innovation.
He has chaired and been on the board of many companies and agencies, including the Kobe Institute, the UK Universities Pensions Forum, the White Rose University Consortium, Yorkshire Innovation, Leeds, York and Bradford Economic Partnerships, the Chambers of Commerce, the National Science Learning Centre, the Centre for Low Carbon Futures, Science City York, the Worldwide Universities Network, the UK College of Business and Computing, The Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission and the Science Museum Group. He founded the Begbroke Science Park at Oxford, the National Science Learning Centre, the Hull-York Medical School, and led the £1bn Heslington East campus development at York.
Cantor was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to higher education.

Research

Cantor's research has investigated the manufacture of materials and has contributed to fundamental scientific advances as well as improvements in many industrial products. He is well known for inventing the field of high entropy alloys, and discovering the so-called "Cantor alloys". He has supervised over 130 research students and postdocs, published over 300 papers and books, given over 100 invited talks in more than 15 countries, received over 10,000 citations with an h-index over 50, and is on the list of ISI List of Most Cited Researchers. He was awarded the Rosenhain and Platinum Medals of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
He is an Honorary Professor at Shenyang, Zhejiang and Nanjing Universities, the National Institute of Metals in China and the Indian Institute of Sciences, an Honorary Member of the Indian Institute of Metals, a Member of Academia Europaea, and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, the Institute of Physics, the Chartered Management Institute and the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is a member of the Scientific Council at the IMDEA Materials Institute in Madrid.